October '82 saw only two shows at the Frost and a one-off in Santa Fe. This one, the middle of the three, is a Blair fave for Crazy Fingers and a Lemeiux show pick (but with the SBD missing Bobby in places, hissy, and with some vacant frequency ranges, it's not going to be an official release). It has a rep for being almost as good as 4/6/82 - at least, as others have noted, for the first set. But the second set also holds together. This was the 2nd-ever show at the Frost - which took changes on campus before the Dead were allowed to book the outdoor bowl.

First Set. Minglewood is a solid enough start (Hometown fillies/T for California), but it's Sugaree that splits the sky open. This craven whirlwind grabs you and sucks you in and spits you back out. Bobby's guitar is AUD-only on these, though the MTX also works for the nice Red Rooster, with all instruments present, including Bobby's Slide Practice™ and the dueling solos at the end. This is a sumptuous Tennessee Jed - all the way to the Shave and a Haircut finish. The SBD is better by Cassidy, though imperfect. Jer delivers a superb Loser, egging Brent to give all for an above-average Far from Me. Looks Like Rain is decent overall. Phil does a low-freq standing wave through the crowd at the beginning (he is still heard best on the AUD). A fine China>Rider sets the break.

Second Set. The set bookends are best, starting with a satisfying sequence. There's a [faint] Country Gardens tuning before a Playing in the Band that's cooler than the other side of the pillow. One of the year's best, Brent is the key player. The following Crazy Fingers is a warm, tight version. The rest are average '82, save a shaky Touch - the 7th one; has the "kiss off". Throwing Stones is the 8th one, but only the 2nd into NFA (Jer hasn't solidified his part yet). The back-nine highlight is Black Peter, a Jer peak. He's also good on the Sugar Mag. During the break Bobby asks residents to vote yes on Prop 12, which, when passed, required Gov. Brown send a letter to Pres. Reagan, his cabinet, and both houses of congress, asking them to halt the massive nuclear arms race between Reagan and Brezhnev and/via allowing bilateral inspections. The interesting note from our perspective is that the Dead rarely gave political entreats from the stage, leaving that to benefit shows, venue booths or personal interviews; and that letters to indignant '80s hawks obviously fostered zero influence, written off as proselytization in a microsecond and dropped in the bin. True change follows the money or the power structure, not laws that compel one person to "write a letter". OTOH, this is an effective evocation (summation?) of the era! Go back to the AUD for Satisfaction, as audience interaction was part of the performance. The weekend ends on a high note with a singular It's All Over Now, Baby Blue.

1st Set:  B+
2nd Set: C+
Overall = 3¾ stars

Highlights:
Sugaree - sucks you in and spits you back out
Tennessee Jed - Jer knows, punctuates with Shave & Haircut
Loser - superb outing
Playing in the Band - all good but Brent is key player
Crazy Fingers - warm
Black Peter - sweetness
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - classic version

SOURCES: SBDs are missing Bobby's guitar for the first few songs (and it's faint after that), so you'll appreciate the AUD. The keshavan_miller_93733 is the update of the classic AUD, with the most balanced freqs (though I like the wagner_miller_109822 for the first 2 tracks). The sbd_sacks_338 runs way too fast. The 141523_sbd_pcm_dalton_miller is newer, but it's missing Graham's intro, is encoded in FF-MPEG (for some reason), and the 2nd set runs way too slow, needing +3% pitch, except for the encores. Best is the miller_110783. It has better patches and is re-pitched, though the seamons_ht02_110970 MTX is still preferable in places (but not for the first set, where it's missing Bobby's guitar).

Grate Recording of Strong Performance. The Previous Review Stated Bobby Gets Extra Cheese Points For His Vocal Flourishes. Ahh But To Much Cheese Takes Away From The Spice. Between Looks Like Rain And Sailor-> Saint, I Find Myself Becoming Lactose Intolerant. I Sure Don't Deny His Guitar Or Vocal Talents. Though Around This Point In The Band's History It Became A Little Hard To Take. The English Have A Term For It. Hard Cheese Is Tough To Swallow. Just My Opinion, We Have To Take The Bad With The Gouda.

Minglewood starts us off strong but with some balance issues that get ironed out quickly. Phil is prominent and Jerry has a nice touch of gain. Jerry throws us right into a satisfying Sugaree. Not to be outdone, Bob launches directly into a soulful Rooster. TN Jed on the heel of the rooster is deliberate and punch drunk. Cassidy gets nicely energized with moments of weirdness during its flight. The show went up a clear notch during this bit. Jerry turns on some gain for the Loser solo, and maintains it in the follow on Brent tune, Far From Me. It doesn't go straight into LLR as deadlists.com suggested, but it does come next. Interesting effects at the beginning probably the highlight. Bob gets extra cheese points for subtle spoken word between song lyrics, dropping the F bomb and improvisational ranting. Whatever it takes, I guess... as we transition straight into China>Rider (which deadlists also didn't list). And, it worked, btw, as C>R starts snappy and just builds from there. The transition jam is fun driven, before they move into Rider I'm sold, the actual transition moment finds them in the X factor zone. Phil makes the Northbound Train.

PITB's familiar notes come out with a good tempo. Brent is strong in the jam, as is Phil. Jerry is up to the task after about a minute in, weaving nicely. The jam is somewhat short lived as they clearly head into Crazy Fingers. It has the solid, cohesive outro jam that is so critical to its success. They through in a non-thematic jam reminiscent of Rider. This descends to a ship lost at sea, and the Sailor(s) are ready. Brent's piano sound is apt. Deliberate and tasteful Sailor is capped off with the antithesis in a Bob rant before going right into one of the most energetic Saints I've heard. Cymbals usher in the serious jam segment where the whole team unites to bring us X factor before the satisfying crash down. Jerry takes over as soon as they stop with the NEW tune, Touch of Grey. In the esteemed power slot, it crushes in its 7th performance! My favorite version even includes a little, strange outro jam before the drummers claim the spotlight.

Wheel rolls nicely out of space to resume the vox, and Phil is to be heeded. After a unique outro we find ourselves stumbling onto a spinning ball of a similarly nascent (to Touch) Throwing Stones with the rougher lyrics. Nice work in the solo, different from what we'd get later in the song's career. This melodic yet powerful jam brings me back to X again. Bobby goes for a set closing NFA, but Jerry pulls out a Black Peter. Love the song, love this rendition, the bridge is powerful and the outro is smooth. Bob opts for Sugar Mags because you can't end a show with Peter. The drummers are particularly on fire here to close the set out, with a Lesh carpet bombing prior to and throughout SSDD.
Double encore treat for us after what's already a lengthy show. They keep the energy pushing into the crowd with a raucous Satisfaction. Baby Blue to follow keeps with the theme of the night, success.
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Performance Summary
After just being good in the first few songs, they really moved into great early with Cassidy. The 2nd set with double encore doesn't let up. The nascent Touch of Grey and Throwing Stones are clear highlights. Classic Show.

Sound Quality
A-. Balance issues are sorted out quickly in Minglewood. Overall, I needed to turn Phil down. There is a minor hiss.

Excellent show. IMO-Jerry was on top of his game on the guitar that night for sure. This 24 bit sounds excellent. Thank you Mr. Miller.

Listening to this SBD, I finally get it! This show is fantastic! Phil was really present, as was the rest of the band. There's that great relaxed Grateful Dead energy with an underlying explosive drive. This recording does the trick.

Thank you, Mr. Miller for another phenomenal upgrade, and, in this case, for convincing me that this show is worth all the praise and recognition I've been reading about these past 21 years.

It opened up my mind like a yawning cat

I shan't trade the memories of this delightful concert for anything, except perhaps more probiotics

It doesn't get any better than this. There are many copies of this show, and this is the best.

Hey Charlie!
Hats off to you for throwin' this out in 24 bit. It sounds super sweet! One of the best quality soundboards I've heard from the Brent era, who is by the way, on fire this show. Right from his first organ solo in Minglewood. You know he's feelin' it. The sound is dirty and grindy just the way I like it but not to much gain like you typically find on 80's SBD recordings.
Another Brent treat is the extra verse he sings on Rooster, always a bonus for me. Not to mention the rest of the guys voices all sound really good this night as well. The Tennessee Jed has almost a 70's feel and sound right from the start.
Well this is how far I got so I may write back when I finish listening to this 80's jem. Charlie, thank you! Hope fully my rating doesn't change after I finish. Lovin' this show!